In the manufacture of containers such as glass bottles and jars, various types of anomalies can occur in the sidewalls, heels, bottoms, shoulders, necks, and finishes of the containers. These anomalies, termed “commercial variations” in the art, can affect commercial acceptability of the containers. Detection of commercial variations in a container can result in rejection of the container, depending upon the type of variation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,482 discloses an example of a detection technique for an apparatus that in one embodiment includes a first light source for directing first light energy onto a first portion of the container finish as it is rotated about its axis, and a second light source for directing second light energy onto a second portion of the container finish as it rotates. A first light sensor is disposed with respect to the first light source and the container finish to receive portions of the first light energy reflected from horizontal checks in the container finish. A second light sensor is disposed with respect to the second light source and the container finish to receive portions of the second light energy reflected from vertical checks in the container finish. An information processor is coupled to the first and second sensors for detecting horizontal and vertical checks in the container finish as a function of reflected portions of the first and second light energies. The information processor detects not only presence of reflections from the container finish as a function of position of incidence on the linear array sensor, but also angular position of the reflections as a function of container rotation.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to detect anomalies in a glass article.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of inspecting a glass article includes applying a contrast agent to a surface of the glass article, removing excess material leaving the contrast agent in surface anomalies of the glass article, and subjecting the article to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis to form images of the surface anomalies retaining the contrast agent.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of performing quality control for containers, which includes the steps of scanning a plurality of containers having a NMRI-active filler material applied thereto, and providing at least one image based on the scanning step of one of the plurality of containers, wherein at least one image reveals a micro-sized anomaly.